Miami over Dallas was the FIRST penalty shootout victory of Messi's club career

In a landmark moment that may surprise many fans, Lionel Messi recorded the first penalty shootout victory of his historic club career when Inter Miami defeated FC Dallas in the Leagues Cup.

Messi's late heroics in Texas saw the match finish 4-4 after 90 minutes, prompting only the second shootout in his 19-year club career.

Last December, the Argentina captain did help his country secure glory from 12 yards as they won the World Cup final on penalties against France.

But despite being involved in dozens of huge knockout matches for both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner had taken part in only one shootout. That came for PSG in a French Cup game against Nice in January 2022.

Although Messi converted his penalty kick during that shootout, PSG would go on to lose the shootout 6-5.

Miami's shootout also gave Messi the chance to redeem himself on US soil, after he sent a spotkick flying over the bar back in 2016 during the Copa America final against Chile at MetLife Stadium.

In his first road game since joining Miami, Messi scored Miami's first spot kick before Paxton Pomykal missed for Dallas, allowing the visitors to win 5-3.

The match saw four lead changes, three goals from free kicks, and two own goals in one of the most exciting matches in American soccer this season.

It continued a remarkable start to his Inter Miami career for Messi, who has scored seven times in just four appearances and already tied him as the fourth highest scoring player in franchise history.

As reported by Ian Hest, Messi is now level with current team-mate Josef Martinez on seven goals along with Lewis Morgan and Rodolfo Pizarro.

The only players to have scored more than Messi for Inter Miami are Gonzalo Higuain (29), and current Inter players Leo Campana (16) and Robert Taylor (8).